Spin transfer torque magnetic random access memories (STT-MRAMs) serving as nonvolatile memories that do not lose information when used in high-speed reading and writing have received attention. STT-MRAMs may replace volatile memories in electronic devices. This may reduce the power consumption since the STT-MRAMs do not require standby power. In order to further reduce the power consumption, however, the write current used to perform a write operation on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) elements serving as storage elements of the STT-MRAMs should be lowered. An MTJ element has a multilayer structure in which a tunnel barrier layer is disposed between two magnetic layers. In order to reduce the write current, perpendicular magnetization MTJ elements, in which the magnetization direction in the magnetic layers of each MTJ element is perpendicular to the film plane, are employed. The “film plane” herein means a plane perpendicular to the stacking direction of layers constituting the MTJ elements.